Container



Dec. 7, 1965 w. R. SCHOLLE 3,221,974

CONTAINER Filed March 16, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WILLIAM R. SCHOLLE 1,, fla mm, wwdciew Dec. 7, 1965 w. R. SCHOLLE CONTAINER 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16, 1964 INVENTOR WILLIAM R. SCHOLLE 1 my m M 3 Mm A-r-rvs.

United States Patent 3,221,974 CONTAINER William R. Scholle, Long Beach, Calif., assignor to Scholle Container Corporation, Northlake, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 352,001 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-39) This invention relates to a container and particularly to a novel closure means for the end of the container.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a container closure such as for example a container top comprised of two opposed pairs of flaps constructed and arranged in a manner whereby one pair of flaps is closed down and provides a firm seat for securing thereover an outermost pair of closure flaps, the outermost flaps being adapted to be adhesively or otherwise secured to or over the first-mentioned pair of flaps.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use with packaged articles which are of a fluid character or which do not entirely fill up the package and thus do not in themselves provide a firm seat for the closure flaps when they are being sealed down.

Thus, for example, the present invention is especially adapted for use with liquid materials packaged within liner bags and wherein the liner bags are disposed within an outermost paperboard container. In such cases it is not feasible to depend upon the package contents for providing a seat for the closure flaps, particularly the top closure flaps which are last scaled down. The present invention provides a firm seat for the flaps so that they may securely seal without depending upon support of the package contents.

The objects of the present invention, its details of construction and arrangement of parts, will be further apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a blank development of one end of a container adapted to be set up in rectangular form.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blank of FIG. 1 assembled in the form of a container with the end closure flaps still open.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container top similar to that of FIG. 2 but viewed from the opposed side.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3 showing one of the end closure flaps locked in place.

FIG. 5 is a progressive view showing another one of the end closure flaps locked in place.

FIG. 6 is a further progressive view showing one of the outermost closure flaps secured down over the two closure flaps previously mentioned.

FIG. 7 is a further progressive View showing all of the end closure flaps secured in place.

Referring to the drawings, the blank development of FIG. 1 shows an upper portion of the container comprising an opposed pair of first side walls 10, 10 and a second opposed pair of side Walls 11, 11 adapted to be disposed in rectangular form, and a short side sealing flap 12 adapted to be secured as by staples or adhesive to an adjacent wall 11.

The walls 10, 10 have hingedly secured thereto on the score lines 13, 13 the first or outermost closure flaps 14, 14. The opposed pair of side walls 11, 11 have hingedly secured thereto on the score lines 15, 15 an opposed pair of lowermost or second closure flaps 16, 16. The flaps 3,221,974 Patented Dec. 7, 1965 16, 16 are formed with an opposed pair of laterally projecting tongues 17, 17 extending from their side edges. These are adapted to engage in the slots 18 formed in the side walls 10 adjacent to and just below the hinge or score lines 13, 13.

FIG. 4 shows the operative use of the container wherein a liner bag 19, composed for example of flexible material such as polyethylene or polypropylene filled with liquid such as milk, acid, or other fluid, is disposed within the container body. As indicated in FIG. 4 the liner bag may not quite completely fill the contents of the paperboard container. However, as previously indicated the present invention does not depend upon the solidity or fluidity of the contents of the container or the degree to which the container is filled, but rather provides a self-anchoring arrangement.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, one of the end flaps 16, designated herein as the second end flaps, is first folded down and anchored in place by extending its tongues 17 within the slots 18. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the second flap 16 is pressed down in place so that its tongues 17 are also locked within slots 18, and are thus firmly held in parallel relationship normal to the side walls 10 and 11 in a firm anchored engagement. Thereafter, the outermost flaps, herein designated as the first flaps 14, 14 are folded down and may be taped together in conventional manner while resting on the firm support of the anchored flaps 16, 16, or adhesively secured to the latter.

Although I have shown only one set of end flaps which are generally the top flaps and the last to be closed, it will be understood that although not shown the bottom flaps may be the same as those shown, or may be of conventional character and secured together as by adhesive or tape without the aid of the anchoring tongues and slots as herein more particularly described for the top flaps.

Although I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the details thereof without departing from its scope as comprehended by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A rectangular paperboard container comprising side walls and end closure flaps hinged to each of said walls, and an opposed staggered pair of laterally extending outwardly tapering tongue means on each of one opposed pair of end flaps engageable with slot means formed in said side walls for anchoring said flaps in parallel relationship to each other and normal to said side walls.

2. A rectangular container comprising a first pair of opposed side walls, a second pair of opposed side walls, a first pair of opposed end flaps hinged to said first side walls and a second pair of opposed end flaps hinged to said second side walls, and opposed staggered laterally projecting tongue means on said second end flaps engageable with slot means formed in said first side walls adjacent the hinge line of said first flaps for anchoring said second flaps in parallel relationship to each other and normal to said side walls.

3. A rectangular container comprising a first pair of opposed side walls, a second pair of opposed side walls, bottom closed flaps, and top closure flaps, the latter comprising a first pair of opposed end flaps hinged to said first side Walls and a second pair of opposed end flaps hinged to said second side walls at one end of the container, and opposed laterally projecting tongue means on said second end flaps disposed in staggered relationship to each other engaged Within slot means formed in said first side Walls adjacent the hinge line of said first flaps anchoring said second flaps in parallel relationship to each other and normal to said side Walls, said first flaps being secured to and in abutment with and in plane parallel relationship to said second flaps, and a fluid material-containing flexible liner bag disposed in said container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,708,700 4/1929 Maier 22937 4 Lowey et a1. Coleman 229-37 Guyer 22937 Moore 29737 X Fallert.

Meinecke et al. 229--14 Scholle 22914 X Hamilton et al. 22914 X FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Examiner. 

1. A RECTANGULAR PAPERBOARD CONTAINER COMPRISING SIDE WALLS AND END CLOSURE FLAPS HINGED TO EACH OF SAID WALLS, AND AN OPPOSED STAGGERED PAIR OF LATERALLY EXTENDING OUTWARDLY TAPERING TONGUE MEANS ON EACH OF ONE OPPOSED PAIR OF END FLAPS ENGAGEABLE WITH SLOT MEANS FORMED IN SAID SIDE WALLS FOR ANCHORING SAID FLAPS IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER AND NORMAL TO SAID SIDE WALLS. 